I knew what he was doing, and wanted to hug him for it. He was drawing attention onto himself, so Morgan wouldn’t grow tired of torturing him. Then she’d leave Lane alone until help came.
I was the help. There was no one else.
Kerdik pressed on, making his tone drip with obnoxious irritability, which I’m sure wasn’t too difficult an acting job. “I don’t understand how you drained my magic.”
Morgan’s smile was sinister, though it had a brush of sweetness to it that made her appear beautiful in her treachery. “Of course you don’t. When I learned of your promise to Urien that only a Daughter of Avalon could kill a Daughter of Avalon – people confess the best secrets when in the process of succumbing to Hemlock – I knew I had to counter your blessing somehow. I couldn’t very well best your magic, but I could build on it. I studied the Jewels of Good Fortune, collecting as many as I could from my sisters. Everyone thinks all I care about is keeping my land and people fertile, but that’s not my only goal. They were fascinating trinkets, beaming out magic to the land. I started to wonder if I could reverse the pull, sucking magic inward, instead of having the jewels pour magic outward.” Her eyes twinkled malevolently. “So I made myself become the treasure, drawing out the magic of others to store in my body, gaining power each time.”
“You were always an excellent student,” Kerdik said grudgingly.
“I made it so that if anyone tried to kill me, not only would they not succeed, thanks to you, but I made sure their magic would spill out of them.” She frowned down at him. “Usually I can snatch it up and keep it for myself, but I can’t manage to hold onto the immortal magic you two seem to ooze without thought. I’ll figure it out eventually, though. I only had my sights set on Avalon, but to rule Éireland as well? Why limit my reach?” She leaned over and pinched Brìghde’s cheek, smiling as the woman on all fours growled like a feral beast. “This way, if my sisters do try to kill me, they’ll lose their magic in the process.”
Morgan really had thought of everything. I couldn’t help but admire her carefully constructed web that so many had stumbled into.
My dad, Mad and Link were rallying the men to ready for a battle that was coming to us. They couldn’t spare the men to ride out and rescue Lane. Even if they did, it didn’t sound like they would be able to find her in that second, secret dungeon.
I tried not to panic at the thought of my Lane being kept somewhere in the dark. My anger absolutely seethed in my veins when I pictured Reyn down there, and even worse, my Draper.
I felt around until my hands touched something I couldn’t see, feeling the prickly cheeks of the man whose face brought me home every time I looked into his eyes. When Morgan disappeared from my vision and Bastien filled my view, I stiffened and sat up. The account of everything I saw tumbled out of me in a rush as I ran to the wardrobe to tug on a pair of jeans, socks and shoes. “Come on!” I urged him when he looked at the jeans I shoved at him in confusion. “Let’s bust out this stone wall and get to them!”
Bastien’s stony face gave no misconceptions that he could be argued with. “No. Even Kerdik said that you’re to be kept here until he comes back. I’m not breaking you out just to take you straight into the lion’s den. Don’t you understand how off the rails Morgan is?”
“My family’s being held in her dungeon! Two immortals might die, Bastien! Don’t you get what that could do to Faîte?”
“I understand, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve got a ring that could undo pretty much everything we know about Faîte if Morgan got her hands on it. If she can control Kerdik, then she can find a way to get that ring off your finger and use what’s in there for her own gain. It’s our one advantage, Ro. You’re talking about strolling into a place that’s rigged for detecting powerful magic.”
I stepped back, angry, but unwilling to argue further. Pacing the room, I thought through all the ways I could bust myself out of here. “I could nab a horse and ride to Morgan’s castle. Of course, I’d most likely be running straight into Morgan’s army, which would be super inconvenient.”
“To say the least. Are you really trying to find a way around this?”
“It’s like you just met me. Of course I am. I’m not going to sit up here and wait it out while my friends and my family are in danger. If only there was a way to zap myself from this room to Morgan’s castle.”
“And then what? How could you possibly get them out and best Morgan on her own turf?”
I shook my head. “One problem at a time.”
“If you try to kill Morgan, all your magic will spill out.”
I shrugged. “I don’t use my magic. I’m the perfect candidate for this. I’m a Daughter of Avalon, and I don’t care if my magic spills out for anyone to scoop up. Let her listen to the healers she tried to shut up.”
Bastien shook his head. “That’s if you can even get past her guards, past her wards, and then manage to win in hand-to-hand combat. Those are significant setbacks, Ro.”
I waved off his warnings and rolled my eyes. “Blah, blah, blah. That’s not the winning attitude I was hoping for. I already know the problems. Help me find the solutions.”
Bastien crossed his arms over his chest. “Did I ever tell you this is one of your least appealing sides? The one that says, ‘blah, blah, blah’ to my completely legitimate warnings does nothing for me. You’re being stubborn!”
I whirled on him and jabbed my finger toward the bed. “The sooner we get everyone home, the sooner we can get back down to business. How’s that for motivation?”
Bastien smirked at me and slid on his jeans, buckling them up and slipping his undershirt over his head. “I’m sufficiently invested now. Okay, problem one is that we can’t get past Morgan’s wards.”
“Who can’t? I mean, it doesn’t sound like Lane’s the one who tripped the alarm. It sounds like they came in with Kerdik, who triggered the wards.”
Bastien nodded. “Okay. But Kerdik gave you extra magic, plus that double lifespan. That might do something.”
“Crap. You’re right.” My eyebrows furrowed, frustrated that I couldn’t get past that problem. “We’ll put a pin in that one for now.”
“We still have to make it past Morgan’s guards.”
I slapped my stomach. “I can do that, if I’m focusing enough. I can ask my internal Compass to lead me away from her spies. Easy-peasy.”
“I was hoping for a plan that was easy-peasy.” He buttoned up his flannel, sighing at the thin, tight tank top that highlighted my PG-13 parts. “When we go away for our honeymoon, I don’t care what happens in Avalon, I’m working those clothes off you, and they’re staying off you for a solid week.”
I smirked up at him, stepping closer so I could taste his lower lip. His lashes fluttered shut as we indulged in a moment of lust that couldn’t be put on hold any longer. “I think that can be arranged.”
“I bought a ring, you know.”
I pulled back so I could gape up at him. “You did? When?”
“Before I left to go rescue Lane. Mad’s been holding onto it for me. I was going to work out this grand proposal, but you beat me to it. My proposal was a whole big thing that had Link singing in it, just so you know.”
“Can I see the ring?” I asked, a small smile playing on my lips.
“Eventually. I still want my moment. Me down on one knee, you caught off-guard. I’ve got big plans for sweeping you off your feet.”
“Consider me ready to be swept.” I leaned up on my toes and brushed a kiss to his lips again.
He picked up my hand and eyed the finger with Kerdik’s ring perched for the world to see. “It’s not as nice as this one, but I think you’ll like it.”
“I love it already,” I promised.
“It won’t hold magic, but it’ll keep me on your finger, there whenever you need me.”
“I need you,” I breathed, my arms snaking around his neck as his coiled around my hips. We slowly swayed to a beat all slow-dancers knew.
The rhythm soothed me, untying knots in my mind that had been too tightly bound. Only Bastien could relax me enough to gain such unequaled clarity. Hope shot through me, filling my lungs like helium expanding the skin of a balloon.
When I stopped our dance, Bastien studied my face with a look of concern. “Daisy? What is it?”
“I think I know how to get us to Morgan’s castle.” I looked down at my ring, wondering how I hadn’t thought of it before now. “I can summon her.”
“Summon who?”
“This ring has all of Faîte’s lost magic in it. It’s not just connected to Avalon; it’s linked to Éireland too.”
“So?”
“I don’t think it’s just Kerdik I can reach with this.” A thrill of trepidation ran through my veins as I pressed the ring to my heart and whispered, “Cailleach, Cailleach, Cailleach.”
7
The Beautiful Hag
Bastien was none too pleased with me, and drew his knife in case… I don’t know, but he seemed to think a knife would do the trick to get us out of whatever pickle I’d landed us in. “You’d better pray that didn’t work. You have no idea what you’re doing, summoning the hag.”
I frowned at him. “That’s kind of mean, don’t you think? People can’t help how they look.”
“She calls herself ‘the hag’. It’s her title.” He moved me back into a corner and stood in front of me, shielding my body from the empty room. Every muscle in his neck and arms were tensed, making me rethink the brilliance of the plan I’d not totally thought through.
A tinkling sound made my arm wrap around Bastien’s middle. Chimes that sounded like Christmas bells and reminded me of Santa Claus echoed off the stone walls all around us. Beneath the beauty, I heard Bastien mutter a string of nervous swears. “Stay back, Rosie.”
“She can’t kill us,” I reminded him, rubbing his stomach from behind.
Snow began to fall from the ceiling, adding a brisk temperature to the cozy room. The lamplight flickered in a one-two-three rhythm, matching my heartrate and warning me that I’d really stepped in it this time. The snow on the ceiling was localized in the center of the room, falling like a shower curtain and making a blind spot so thick, I couldn’t tell what was going on behind it. When I heard the cackle that could rival any evil queen, my spine stiffened, and I held Bastien to me even tighter.
A woman’s shrill voice sounded from behind the curtain of snow. “Who dares invoke such powerful magic tha could summon me all the way from Éireland?”
I couldn’t see her, but answered the veil of winter all the same. “I did, your majesty. Rosie Avalon, a friend of Kerdik’s.”
Cailleach’s voice scoffed in disbelief. “Kerdik has no friends.”
“Kerdik has lots of friends. Bastien and I are only two of the people who care about him. He’s in danger, and I didn’t know who else to turn to.”
“My dear green friend obviously didn’t care to tell ye all he’s done to my dear sister, Brìghde, or else ye wouldn’t presume I’d lift a finger to help him.”
I stepped out from behind Bastien, unwilling to cower from the meeting I’d called to order. I rolled my shoulders back, wondering when it was that I’d allowed my fear to call the shots. “Brìghde and Kerdik have been taken hostage. They had their magic stripped from them. They can’t be killed, but they’re stuck and they can’t escape. You might not care about Kerdik, but I know you need Brìghde to balance Éireland.”
Cailleach pfft’d from behind her curtain. “You’re mistaken. My sister is just fine. I would know if she’d gone missing.”
I put my hands on my hips. “You want to look out for Éireland all on your own? Because that’s what we’re dealing with here. Kerdik watches after Avalon by himself, and it’s exhausting. Why, not too long ago he had to sleep to recharge his magic. Is that what you want?”
The silence that greeted me meant that I had earned a point on her. “Ye say Brìghde and Kerdik were taken together?”
I nodded, glad we were finally getting somewhere. “Brìghde took a mortal for a boyfriend, and he turned double agent on her. His name was Gilliam. He was working for Morgan le Fae, who used the secrets she confessed to him to manipulate your sister and steal her tears. Apparently there’s some serious Jiu-Jitsu in there, because Morgan used them to cast a spell that weakened Kerdik and Brìghde.”
The pause was telling, and though I’d been firm to the point of antagonistic with her, she was beginning to let go of her distrust. “I told her no good could come from taking up with tha man. But no, no one listens to the hag.”
“Well, you were right on this point, so high-five for you. He even lied to her about his real name. He lured her to Morgan’s castle in Avalon, and now Morgan’s captured her. She’s burning Brìghde with some kind of acid that keeps her magic from restoring. She keeps shrieking in pain, and I know you don’t want that for your sister.”
The snow fell harder now, piling up and making a small hill. I shivered in my tank top, but knew I couldn’t exactly put a winter-wielding sorceress on hold so I could fish around for a sweater.
“Morgan le Fae is truly hurting Brìghde?”
“And Kerdik. I want to go and help them both, but I can’t get there.”
“Ye want to use my magic so ye can free your friend.”
“Yes, ma’am. My friend, a few members of my family, and your sister.”
“I didn’t know Brìghde had friends in Avalon. Ye want to rescue my sister? Ye must be close.”
“She’s never met me before. I don’t know her, but I know Kerdik sacrificed himself to try and rescue her, which is how he got trapped there in the first place. If she’s important to Kerdik, then she’s important to me.” I declared my allegiances with no room for debate.
All at once, the last layer of snow fell to the pile in a gust, revealing a stooped old woman with a spindly cane. She had a missing tooth in front, a wonky left eye, pale and flaky skin, and blue dreads.
It wasn’t the super cool blue dreadlocks that drew me to her, but the hump on her shoulders that tugged at my heart. “You… Your back.”
“Yes?” Cailleach sneered, daring me to insult her.
“I look like you.”
Cailleach clearly had not been expecting me to say this, since now we looked nothing alike. But I saw myself in her, the girl I used to be before Avalon found me.
I closed my eyes and shook my head, my childhood nickname coming back to haunt me. I loathed being called the Humpback Whale, and knew the damage such personal remarks made on a girl’s psyche. “I was taken from Avalon when I was just a baby. My aunt stole me from my mother, Morgan le Fae, and took me to Common, where we hid until last year. My aunt had to change my appearance, and I think she used you as a guide. My eyes used to be the same as yours, pointing in two different directions.” I reached over my shoulder to tap my back. “I had a hump, just like yours.”
Cailleach eyed me bitterly. “Lies. You’re fair – lovelier than most, actually – with no trace of any of those things.”
I took a step forward, showing her my empty hands in innocence. My heart broke for her, living life unable to stand up straight. There was a certain power about possessing that ability now which I did not take for granted. “I see you,” I told her, knowing the pain that came from being ostracized. Immortal and all-powerful or not, those were hard imperfections to live with. I’d only had just over two decades to suffer through, but she’d lived stooped like this forever.
I moved slowly forward so she could see I wasn’t a threat. I could practically feel Bastien silently warning me to come back to him, but I didn’t listen. I’m not sure he was surprised by that.
When I finally reached Cailleach, I warned her with a soft, yet stern look, that I was going to hug her, and she would deal with the gentle touch. I knew that kindness could feel threatening when you were used to cruelty. My arms slowly banded around her, and I even went so far as to lay my head on her stooped shoulder, offering
myself as a refuge from the cold she seemed to travel with. She was my height, stooped as she was.
“Child, what are ye doing?” Her tone sounded a mix between irritable, touched and amused.
“This is a hug,” I explained, knowing that of all the lifetimes of experience this woman had of seeing all the amazing things life offered up, Lane had given me the upper hand on this area of expertise. “Your hair is awesome, by the way. Mine’s pretty boring.”
Cailleach’s body vibrated with a bemused chuckle, and finally her arm banded around my back, while her other hand remained clutching her cane. “You’re lying to me. I can tell ye never had a hump, girl. But it was a sweet lie, so I’ll forgive ye.”
“I did,” I promised. “You can ask my aunt. I was a sexy vixen with it, too. Rocked that hump like none other. My Aunt Lane changed my appearance to look more like you, I guess. She was worried my mother’s army would find and capture me. The second her concealment charm wore off, she was right. Avalon found me, and now here I am.” My voice quieted. “I know what it is to walk around stooped. I know how it feels when people look at you, then look away. I get it, and I think you’re beautiful.”
Cailleach kept vacillating from stiff to soft in my arms, unsure what the crap to do with me. My heart broke for the stares and pointing she’d no doubt endured far longer than I ever had to deal with it all. You had to build up a callous to get through life being the kind of person people couldn’t look in the eye without wincing. I couldn’t imagine how thick her skin would have to be to put up with it all for an eternity.
Cailleach cleared her throat. “Thank you, child.”
When I stepped back, Cailleach’s skin started to sparkle – the snow on her pale arms turning iridescent in the lantern’s light. “Whoa, what…” I gasped when she stood straight, her hump suddenly fading away. I couldn’t help the shriek that ripped from my mouth when her wrinkled skin began smoothing out, making her go from the age of seventy-five to maybe thirty-five. She scrutinized me with eyes that suddenly pointed in the same direction, going from “the hag” with super cool hair, to a gorgeous woman with super cool hair. “What just happened? How did you do that?” I balked, pointing to her form. “You just turned diva!”
Stubborn Girl Page 4
